


Homecoming

by SpookyHoodlum



Category: Far Cry (Video Games), Far Cry 5
Genre: Abusive Parents, F/M, Gen, Implied/Referenced Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-07-04
Packaged: 2020-06-03 18:58:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19470130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpookyHoodlum/pseuds/SpookyHoodlum
Summary: A young woman recalls the night she met Joseph Seed.





	Homecoming

I was always too afraid to run before that day. If my father caught me, or if I got away and he found me... It would only make everything worse. I already had one black eye from the other day. I don’t know what possessed me to do it, not at first. I only knew I had to, that afternoon, at that very moment. It was now or never.

He always dozed off this time of day with a bottle in his hand. I put some things in a bag, not that I had much, and tiptoed out the door. I didn't even have shoes. I hadn't had a pair in months and I couldn't ask for the money to buy some. I braced myself the whole walk to the end of the dirt driveway. Waiting for his footsteps on the porch, shouting at me to get my worthless ass back in the house. Nothing. He was still asleep and none the wiser. So I broke into a run and never looked back. All Daddy would find when he woke was my footprints in the dirt. Clouds rolled in on the horizon but I kept on. No destination, no money, no plan. I didn't care, nothing could be worse than home. I began to feel as if something else awaited me, like I was being led by some invisible force. Maybe the Lord finally saw fit to guide me from suffering. I had been praying every night.

I can’t say I remember how I ended up there. I just walked and walked, until it was night and pouring rain. In my search for shelter, I saw the lit windows of a church. That warm yellow light seemed to call to me, beckoning me closer. Instead of the door I went to a side window, where I saw the Father for the first time. I knew of these people, my father had told me to steer clear of them. They were heathens, especially that Joseph Seed and his family. They perverted the Word of God, he said. I couldn’t hear what Joseph was saying, not over the rain or my own chattering teeth. It must have been something important, because I couldn’t take my eyes off him. Suddenly he stopped, and he looked right at me. I froze in place, I finally noticed the men armed with guns in the room. His eyes never left mine as he walked over and opened the window. I staggered back, ready to run for it. He said nothing. We only stared at each other for what felt like hours. Finally, he said what all angels say when they appear.

“Don’t be afraid.“ His voice was gentle as he offered his hand. “Come in, my child.”

I took his hand and he helped me in through the window. It was much warmer inside even though I was drenched. He took off his jacket and put it around me. The congregation murmured amongst themselves. There were so many eyes on me that night but I only remember his face, his hands on my shoulders. No one besides my mother had ever looked at me that way before, like I was welcome and wanted.

“What's your name?”

I stammered before I could find my voice. “Comfort.”

He looked so gently at me, at _me_. His hand brushed my cheek, where my black eye faded into a yellowing bruise. He understood right away what I’d been running from.

“You’re safe now.”

He turned back to his congregation with his arm around me. I barely remember what he said, something about me, the lost lamb and them, the flock and him, the shepherd. After the sermon, he sat down with me. Someone replaced his jacket with a blanket. He brushed my wet hair out of my face.

“Comfort. That's a beautiful name.” He touched my cheek and I had to resist leaning into his palm.

I didn't know what to say to him. “Before- I didn't mean to -”

“It’s all right. What matters is you're here. God led you here tonight, to us.” His fingers brushed my bruise again. “We are a family that will love and guide you. We will protect you. They will never hurt you again, I promise.”

He said I was safe and he meant it. He had to be what led me out the door, if not only God. Whether it was his intent or not, the Father was calling me to him this whole time. Calling me into the arms of my true family. He handed me over to a group of women who could take me in for the night. I didn't say it, but I didn't want to leave his side. He embraced me once more before leaving me with them. I let it seep into my bones. I memorized the weight of his arms, the way he smelled like cedar wood. Everything that brought me there, my father, my late mother, my pain, my sadness, it all seemed so small now. I could face them all now. I wasn't alone anymore.


End file.
